Search engine optimization (SEO) is the expression used by Internet marketers to describe the process by which webmasters improve their search engine rankings to achieve two main purposes: (1) increase the volume of their traffic and (2) increase the quality of their traffic.

Increased traffic means increased revenue. Most websites receive the bulk of their traffic through search engines. When people go online, they know what they want, but don't necessarily know where to find that information. Search engines connect us with relevant information and thus save us time and frustration.

As the Internet continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a place for oneself online. Search engines are faced with millions of websites/ web pages on any given subject. How to rank on the first page of Google (or, in other words, how to beat out other websites and get the attention of web surfers)? This is the question that most SEO experts struggle with on a daily basis as they try to maximize their clients' exposure online.

Although webmasters have the choice of driving traffic to their websites through various means, such as pay-per-click, pay-per-action, or pay-per-impression advertising, these other options can be expensive (and represent recurring costs). If a webmaster can rank high in search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN, for popular keywords, they get traffic for "free." SEO is a means to get free traffic.

The goodwill of most websites is heavily dependent on the traffic they generate. Ranking high in search engines is crucial to maintaining/ increasing the value of a website’s goodwill.

SEO Put in Perspective

As already alluded to above, SEO is only one aspect of how to market a website, albeit an important one. Depending on the purpose of a website and its relationship to traditional medias, there may be better ways to promote it. That being said, the most effective promotional campaigns normally use various methods to reach their target audience. For online marketing, SEO should be a constant concern.

It is a mistake to think that SEO is simply about increasing a website's traffic. Traffic is not an end in itself, but rather a means to an end. Traffic is an essential element of online monetization. If we tie "traffic" with "monetization," the ultimate goal is really to get "quality traffic" in order to maximize profits. As opposed to telling ourselves that we should get traffic and monetize that traffic, we should be telling ourselves that we should be getting quality traffic and take the most out of that quality traffic.

Quality traffic depends on your online business model. If your purpose is to monetize your website with pay-per-impression ads for instance, your goal will be to get traffic from western countries in order to get a higher payout. It would be useless for you to get traffic from developing countries because most advertisers do not target those parts of the world (yet) and, even if they do, the payout is ridiculously low.

Another example. If you want to sell a product, you want to formulate your SEO strategy to reach people that will want to buy your product. You will want to target potential buyers. Even if you get less traffic, will you care if you end up closing more sales?

Search engine optimization should be undertaken with the ultimate goal in mind and not "blindly." You don't want traffic just for the sake of getting traffic. As for sales in the real world, each visitor is your customer.